Valve with press-fit insert

ABSTRACT

A shear seal includes a seal plate having a first seal surface and a sliding seal assembly having a second seal surface, and at least one of the first and second sealing surfaces comprise an insert comprising a material different than that of the seal plate or the sliding seal connected to the seal plate or sliding seal assembly by a compressed member disposed between the insert and the adjacent surface of seal plate or sliding seal assembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/530,637, filed Aug. 2, 2019, and claims the benefit of U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/718,292, filed Aug. 13, 2018,which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of fluid control components.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to the field ofhydraulic valves and regulators used to control fluid operated devices,such as other valves and components in fluid circuits, including valvesand components used to operate oilfield well drilling and productionequipment, such as surface and subsea blowout preventers.

Description of the Related Art

Hydraulic valves are used to control the opening and closing ofhydraulically operated oilfield well drilling and production equipment,such as additional valves or other components connected to blowoutpreventers, as well as valves used in process control in otherindustries, such as food handling equipment, machining equipment, andother industries. Fluid regulators are used to control the pressure in ahydraulic circuit to ameliorate pressure spikes which can occur whenhydraulic valves in the circuit are opened or closed. Variable orificesare used to selectively pass pressure and fluid therethrough at levelsbetween full fluid flow and pressure and no fluid flow and pressure, andthus regulate the fluid pressure downstream therefrom. Pressureregulators are used to maintain a desired pressure in a hydrauliccontrol circuit. Pressure relief valves are configured to relieve anoverpressure condition in a fluid line by allowing a portion of thefluid therein to vent from the fluid line. These fluid based controlcircuit components are commonly provided in a fluid control circuit withredundancy, i.e., more than one set of valves, regulators, etc. areprovided for any critical function the control circuit is configured toperform to ensure, that when required to for example operate a blowoutpreventer to close off a well bore being drilled or operated upon, thehydraulic control circuit will deliver the required fluid in therequired time with sufficient volume and pressure to close the blowoutpreventer.

One recurring limitation in hydraulic valves and regulators which usepressurized fluid or an electromechanical actuator to cause at least onevalve component to move with respect to another valve component isstiction, which is the static friction present between two stationarysurfaces in contact with one another. Typically, the force needed toovercome stiction to allow one surface to move with respect to the otheris greater than the force needed to cause two surfaces in contact witheach other to continue moving with respect to each other once movementtherebetween has started. As a result, it is known in the art that up to20% of the total force, and thus of the total energy, supplied to ahydraulic valve can be taken up to overcome stiction, which resultantlycauses the mechanical valve elements overshoot their intended locations.In a regulator, where dead bands on the order of 20 to 30% are known tooccur in current designs, hunting, or oscillating around the outletpressure setpoint, is a continuing issue affecting the operation of thehydraulic circuit. Pressure oscillations in the line valve on the orderof 1400 psi decreases and 600 psi increases are known to occur when avalve closing off, i.e., blocking, fluid communication with the line isopened.

An additional issue present in hydraulic circuit control components isreliability of the hydraulic control components due to wear andcorrosion of the components, caused by the exposure of the components toerosive and corrosive hydraulic operating fluids, and by relativemovement of the components with respect to each other. Corrosion anderosion of the parts of the hydraulic circuit control components movingrelative to one another or relative to other parts can generate debristending to cause these components to become locked in place, or moveerratically, and corrosion, erosion and wear can cause a slidableinterface between components to leak, reducing the effectiveness andreliability of the hydraulic control circuit component. Upon theoccurrence of either event, the hydraulic circuit component will requirerepair or replacement, which in a subsea environment is expensive whereservicing of the components often requires the use of a submersiblerobot to remove or service a hydraulic circuit component. To prevent thehydraulic control circuit from becoming non-functional as a result of afailure of a hydraulic control component, and to reduce the number ofservice operation periods in which a submersible robot is used toreplace hydraulic control components, subsea control systems often haveeven greater redundancy requiring even more redundant hydraulic circuitsand attendant components including redundant valves, regulators andvariable orifices, leading to even greater cost of the hydraulic controlcircuitry.

To help reduce wear, the hydraulic control circuit components whichinclude sliding contact surfaces have been made from, or coated with,carbide materials. However, relatively high stiction occurs between twoclosely fitted, but slidingly movable with respect to each other,carbide surfaces. As a result, to operate these hydraulic circuits,fluid maintained at relatively high pressures is required. A substantialamount of energy is used to pressurize the fluid, and large accumulatorsare needed to store the fluid under the high pressure. Because of theneed for redundant components systems, these costs are magnified wherestiction is a large factor in the operational energy needed to operatethe valve.

Additionally, because carbide based components are brittle in comparisonto stainless steel components, where two such parts of a component mustbe moved into sealing engagement, slower component velocities resultingin lower engagement forces are used to ensure the components do notfracture, crack or create particles thereof which can become lodgedbetween the moving surfaces and lock the moving parts in place. As aresult, valve operation slower than optimal occurs, i.e., the time toclose off or open a flow passage, or otherwise effect the fluid flow,pressure or both in a fluid flow line or component being controlled bythe hydraulic control circuit is greater than that desired.Additionally, carbide materials are difficult to machine, and thus if anvalve component is manufactured out of a carbide blank, it can break orchip during the manufacture thereof, resulting in significant net costof each useful carbide component as a percentage of all carbide partsmachined or manufactured.

As a result of the stiction issues of sliding stainless steel surfaces,and the limitations on the performance of carbide materials, theapplicant hereof has developed valves wherein the relative slidingsurfaces forming the sealing interface of the valve have beenconstructed using inserts of non-ferrous metal single crystal materialssuch as sapphire, or carbide materials, as one or both of the sealingsurfaces. As described in applicant's prior U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/705,013, filed Sep. 14, 2017, the relative sliding surfaces maybe formed on inserts which are eutectic bonded to the underlyingstainless steel valve component. However, even using inserts of singlecrystal materials, as well as inserts of carbide materials, as thesliding seal, i.e., forming a shear seal therewith, components, highmanufacturing cost and insert breakage continues to occur at anunacceptably high level, resulting in high cost, risk of failure of theinsert by fracturing in use, and thus a low acceptance of such valvesincluding single crystal or carbide surfaces provided as an insertmaterial. Additionally, where inserts are single crystal and are weldedto a valve component, any slight misalignment therebetween is difficultto fix after the single crystal insert piece and valve component arefixed together by welding, and this misalignment can result in theopposing sealing surfaces being in a non-parallel state, i.e., one iscocked slightly with respect to the other, and when the valve is in aclosed position, a point contact between the sealing components canoccur, and a gap is thus formed adjacent thereto and the intendedsealing interface leaks. Additionally, because the single crystalmaterials are highly wear resistant, the sealing faces of the valve willnot “run in” so that the facing relatively sliding surfaces wear into analigned state, and the point contact may chip or crack, causing thevalve to potentially become locked in an open, closed, or intermediatestate.

SUMMARY

Embodiments herein provide a lower friction and higher wear andcorrosion resistance sliding interface for hydraulic component slidinginterfaces, such as sealing surfaces. In one aspect, a shear sealincludes a seal plate having a first seal surface and a sliding sealassembly having a second seal surface, and at least one of the first andsecond sealing surfaces comprise an insert comprising a materialdifferent than that of the seal plate or the sliding seal connected tothe seal plate or sliding seal assembly by a compressed member disposedbetween the insert and the adjacent surface of seal plate or slidingseal assembly.

In another aspect, the single crystal material can be sapphire or ruby,and one sliding surface can comprise ruby, and the other sapphire,either as a coating, an insert, or the composition of the entire part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a modular valve, including a shear sealas a sealing element thereof;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a shear seal style valve;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2, showing the sealcarrier and sealing elements in greater detail;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a bidirectional seal assembly and opposedseal plate assemblies wherein the bidirectional seal assembly blocks theoutlet passages of the valve;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a bidirectional seal assembly and opposedseal plate assemblies wherein the bidirectional seal assembly is movedfrom the position thereof to allow fluid to flow from an inlet passageto a first of two outlet passages;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a bidirectional seal assembly and opposedseal plate assemblies wherein the bidirectional seal assembly is movedfrom the position thereof to allow fluid to flow from an inlet passageto a second of two outlet passages;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view a bidirectional seal assemblyuseful in the valve of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a seal used in the bidirectional sealassembly of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the force required to begin moving the sealcarrier with respect to the seal plate surfaces of the valve of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of a sliding seal element of the valve ofFIG. 1 having an insert on the sealing surface side thereof;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the sliding seal element of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an exploded view of the sliding seal assembly of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of an alternate valve construct having aninsert at a shear seal interface thereof;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged sectional view of the valve body of the valve ofFIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the connection of the sealing plate to amodular insert of the valve of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a view of a solenoid actuated valve, showing the valvecomponents in section;

FIG. 17 is an isometric view of a seal plate carrier;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged sectional view of the end of the nipple of theseal plate carrier of FIG. 17, showing the connection of a singlecrystal or carbide insert therein;

FIG. 19 is a sectional view of the seal plate carrier of FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is an alternate construct of the end of the nipple of the sealplate carrier of FIG. 17, showing the connection of a single crystal orcarbide insert therein:

FIG. 21 is a sectional view of an insert used to connect an insert to avalve component;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view of an insert used to connect an insert to avalve component; and

FIG. 23 is a sectional view of an insert used to connect an insert to avalve component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Herein, hydraulic operating valves, regulators and other hydrauliccontrol circuit components are configured wherein at least one of theinternal components thereof which move relative to one another or engageone another are configured of a non-ferrous single crystal material,such as ruby or sapphire, and as a result lower friction slidinginterfaces, less component wear, and a reduction in the wear andcorrosion of these components are achieved. Alternatively, hydraulicoperating valves, regulators and other hydraulic control circuitcomponents are configured wherein at least one of the internalcomponents thereof which move relative to one another or engage oneanother are configured of a carbide material, and as a result, lesscomponent wear, and a reduction in the wear and corrosion of thesecomponents, is achieved. In contrast to prior valves where singlecrystal materials are provided as a separate sealing disk or relatedcomponent welded in place, or components formed entirely of carbide, ora carbide sealing disk or related component is welded to a valvecomponent, or a carbide coating is applied, here the carbide or singlecrystal materials are provided as insets which are press fit into place.The press fit connection of the single crystal or carbide piece having asealing surface of the valve thereon into or on a valve component,includes a conformable intermediary between the single crystal orcarbide element and the sealing element. This allows the single crystalor carbide element to move to a small degree within, or on, the valvecomponent, thereby allowing the opposed sealing surfaces to move withrespect to each other and come into a parallel alignment needed forproper sealing operation. Descriptions of applications of thenon-ferrous single crystal material in a number of selected hydrauliccircuit control components are provided herein. While not exhaustive ofthe applicability of the single crystal material, they are intended toprovide exemplars of use of the single crystal material and not to limitthe scope of the invention described herein. Additionally herein, thesealing elements of the valve operate as a shear seal, where at leastone seal component has an opening therein that is selectively allowed tocommunicate with an inlet or outlet of the valve, by operation of theother sealing component to move over the opening, or retract from beingover the opening, by relative sliding motion thereof across the otherelement thereof.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, an isometric view of a modular valve 10is shown, wherein a plurality of functional blocks, including a supplyblock 90, a dummy block 82, a first function block 80 and a secondfunction block 84, are interconnected through first and second adaptorblocks 86, 88, to a valve block 100 within which a sliding sealassembly, including a sleeved insert, is provided. Herein, a singlecrystal or carbide material is employed as the sliding seal interfacematerial and is provided as an insert, which is not connected to thevalve component on or within which it is located by a physically rigidconnection. For example, the insert is not connected to the valvecomponent using welding, soldering, non-compliant, when cured or set,adhesives, or the like, but is instead connected to the valve componentby being press fit thereover using an intermediate sleeve, wherein thesleeve is preferably compressed, but not sheared, during the pressfitting operation, and the sleeve is compressed such that incompression, is provides sufficient force against the adjacent surfacesof the insert and the sleeve to provide sufficient friction therebetweento prevent the sleeve or the insert from backing off or out of its pressfit location. Additionally, in use, at least portions of the sealinginsert and an adjacent seal surface, here preferably another insert, arealways biased toward one another, and hence the sealing inserts arebiased in a direction to maintain them in their press fit location. Thesleeve also functions, to a degree, as a compliant interface between thesealing insert and the seal component it is held in or on, and thusallows some change in the attitude of the sealing face of the insertwith respect to the seal component, allowing the sealing surfaces tomove into parallel alignment where a slight misalignment from parallelwould in the past have resulted in breakage or cracking of the insertand the need to replace the valve.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the portion of the valve of FIG. 1, havingthe sealing interfaces thereof, is shown in section and here isconfigured as a four way, two position valve 10, wherein certaininternal components thereof are configured from, or include insertsconfigured from, a single crystal material such as ruby or sapphire, ora carbide material. In FIG. 4, the valve components that form thesealing and fluid path switching are shown in section, without adjacentportions of the accompanying valve body and attendant operationalelements of the valve.

The valve of FIGS. 2 to 4 comprises a valve block 100 forming the valvebody, an inlet block 90, and outlet block 80, a drive actuator 130, acompensation or return actuator 140, and a seal carrier 150. A shearseal assembly 138 is provided in the seal carrier 150. The valve block100 is configured of stainless steel or other high strength metal, andconnected thereto are first adaptor block 86 and the inlet body 90having an inlet 102 ported, through an inlet body passage 104 in thefirst adaptor block 86, to a first seal plate 105 having a sealingsurface 106 through which the inlet body passage 104 communicates, andthe second adaptor block 88 and the first outlet block 80 connectedthereto having a first outlet passage 108 communicating through a firstoutlet block passage 110 to a second seal plate 111 having a secondsealing surface 112 through which the first outlet block passage 110communicates, and the second outlet block 86, having a second outlet 114connected through a second outlet block passage 116 to the second sealplate 111 second sealing surface 112, through which second outlet blockpassage 116 opens. Inlet block passage 104 intersects first seal platesealing surface 106 generally perpendicular to the planar surfacethereof, and each of the first and second outlet block passages 110, 116intersect the second seal plate sealing surface 112 generallyperpendicular thereto. The first and second outlet block passages 110,116 are spaced from each other at the second seal plate surface 112 by adistance d (FIG. 3).

Body 100 further includes a cross bore 120 extending therethroughgenerally perpendicular to the portions of the inlet body passage 104and the first and second outlet block passages 110, 116 opening into theseal plate surfaces 106, 112. The drive actuator 130 extends inwardly ofa first opening 132 of the cross bore 120 and thus into the valve block100, and includes a drive rod 134 terminating inwardly of the body 100in a threaded boss 136. An actuator, such as a mechanical orelectromechanical drive, to push the drive rod 134 inwardly of theopening 132, is shown schematically as the force arrow “A”.Additionally, the actuator may be a hydraulically operated piston. Thecompensation actuator 140 extends inwardly of the second opening 142 ofthe cross bore 120 into the valve block 100. Compensation actuator 140includes a compensation drive rod 144 which terminates inwardly of thevalve block 100 in a threaded compensation rod boss 146. In theembodiment, a spring, not shown but schematically represented by forcearrow S, provides a return force to re-center the carrier 150 in thevalve 10 between the seal plate surfaces 106, 112.

Referring to FIG. 3, the seal carrier 150 is shown in section andenlarged, and includes a body 152 having opposed, parallely disposed,upper and lower surfaces 154, 156, a threaded drive rod opening 159 intowhich the threaded boss 136 of the drive rod is threadingly secured, andan opposed threaded compensation rod boss opening 160, into which thetreaded compensation rod boss 146 is threadingly received. A seal bore162 extends through the carrier 150 and opens through the upper andlower surfaces 154, 156.

As shown best in FIG. 3, bidirectional seal assembly 170 is receivedwithin the generally right cylindrical, in section, seal bore 162extending through the seal carrier 150 and includes a first sealingelement 172 located adjacent to the upper surface 154 of the sealcarrier 150, a second sealing element 174 located adjacent to the lowersurface 156 of the seal carrier, and a biasing element 158 interposedbetween the first and second sealing elements in the seal bore 162, andconfigured to bias the sealing elements 172, 174 outwardly of the upperand lower surfaces 154, 156 of the seal carrier 150, respectively. Eachof the first and second sealing elements 172, 174 have a generally rightcylindrical outer surface 176 and a bore 178 therethrough opening, atthe first or second ends thereof, respectively, in an outwardly taperedcountersink opening 180. The bore 178 opens, at the end thereof oppositeto countersunk opening 180, into an enlarged diameter counter bore 182,such that the counterbores 182 of each sealing element 172, 174 faceeach other within the seal bore 162. An alignment tube 184 extendsinwardly of the opposed counterbores 182 to maintain alignment betweenthe two sealing elements 172, 174 and form a continuous flow passagebetween the bores 178 thereof and thus through the seal bore 162. Asmall clearance gap, on the order of 1 to 5 thousandths of an inch, ispresent between the tube 184 and the surfaces of the counterbores 182.

The first and second seal elements 172, 174 are, in the embodiment ofFIG. 4, right cylindrical elements having the same outer diameter, thesame bore 178 diameter and the same counterbore diameter. However, theinner diameter of a countersunk opening 180 a of the first sealingelement 172 facing the first seal plate 105 has a larger diameter thanthe countersunk opening 180 b of the second seal element 174 facing thesecond seal plate 111. The first seal element 172 thus includes anannular seal face 181 having a first area extending between thecounterbore 180 of the first seal element 172 and the outer diameterthereof, and the second seal element 174 includes an annular seal face183 having a second area extending between the counterbore 180 of thesecond seal element 174 and the outer diameter thereof. The area of thesecond seal face 183 is greater than that of first seal face 181. Theopening diameter d2 of the countersunk opening 180 in the second sealelement 174 at the annular seal face is slightly less than the closestspacing “d” between the first and second outlet block passages 110, 116at the second sealing surface 112, and the outer diameter of the outersurfaces 176 of the first and second seal elements 172, 174 is slightlylarger than the largest distance “D” across the adjacent first andsecond outlet block passages 110, 116. A biasing element 158, such asthe key seal structure illustrated in FIG. 8 and in co-pendingapplication U.S. Ser. No. 14/067,398 filed Oct. 30, 2013, which isherein incorporated by reference, is located between the back side 186surfaces of the sealing elements 172,174 to bias them outwardly of theseal bore 162. Backing rings 188 (FIG. 7), or other elements to ensurethe integrity of the biasing element, may be provided between thebiasing element 158 and the back side 186 surfaces.

Each of the two the two sealing elements 172, 174 are configured to beidentical, but for the diameters d1 and d2 thereof. Here, the diameterd1 of the bore opening out from the countersunk opening 180 of sealingelement 172 is greater than the diameter d2 of the bore opening out fromthe countersunk opening 180 of sealing element 174. This relationshipallows the positioning of the sealing faces of the sealing elements toselectively block both openings 464 in the second sealing plate 111simultaneously, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and thus prevent fluidcommunication between opening 460 and openings 462, 464, as well asselectively allow fluid communication between opening 460 and only oneof openings 462, 464 by selective positioning of the location of theseal bore 162, and thus the sealing faces of the sealing elements, withrespect to openings 462, 464, while maintaining opening 460 in fluidcommunication with the bores 178 of the sealing elements 172, 174 and ofthe alignment tube 184.

In FIGS. 10 to 12, sealing element 172 is shown. Sealing element 174 hassubstantially the same construct as sealing element 174, except for theinner diameter d1 of the opening in the annular seal face 181. Sealingelement 172 (and 174) are here configured of a body 400, here astainless steel body to prevent corrosion thereof when exposed to highpressure fluids which may have corrosive elements therein, a cappinginsert 402 at the seal plate 105 facing end thereof, and a ring orsleeve shaped insert 403, configured of a compressible material having alower modulus of elasticity than the material of the body, butsufficient strength that it will not become sheared during assembly ofthe capping insert 402 onto the body 400, for example PEEK, thirtypercent (30%) carbon filled PEEK, Delrin® and Teflon®.

Capping insert 402 is configured in a ring shaped like construct,wherein an annular ring shaped portion 408 includes the annular sealface 181 as one surface thereof surrounding an opening of diameter Dtherethrough, and from the opposite side thereof extends an annular ortubular section 410 having an inner wall 414 of a diameter C, which isgreater than the diameter D, such that an annular support wall 412extends from the circumference of the opening to the inner wall 414.Body 400 of the sealing element 172 is configured of, for example,stainless steel, and at the seal plate facing end 404 thereof itincludes an outer, circumferential recess 416 extending radiallyinwardly of the outer wall 418 of the body 400, such that an annularledge 420 and a stub wall 422 extending therefrom in the direction ofseal plate end 404 is formed. Stub wall 422 forms the outercircumferential surface of a generally right cylindrical stub 401extending from the main portion 403 of the body 400.

The sleeve 430 is located between the inner wall 414 and the annularsupport wall 412 of the capping insert 402 and the annular ledge 420 andstub wall 422 of the body 400. Sleeve 430 includes an innercircumferential wall having a diameter slightly less than, or equal to,the diameter C₁ of the stub wall 422, and an outer circumferential wall434 having a diameter slightly larger than, or equal to, the diameter Cof the inner wall 414, and thus the inner circumference of the sleeve430 is equal to, or slightly less than, the outer circumference of thestub wall 422 and the outer circumference of the sleeve is equal to, orgreater than, the inner circumference of the inner wall 414 of theinsert 402. Sleeve 430 further includes an annular base wall 438 and anupper annular wall 436.

To assemble the insert 402 with the body 400, sleeve 430 is preferablypushed over the stub wall 422 of the stub 401 until the base wall 438thereof contacts, or nearly contacts, the annular ledge 420 of the base,and then the insert 402 is pressed thereover. Preferably, the insert 402is pressed over the sleeve 430 until one of the annular support wall 412thereof contacts the end of the stub 401 of the body 400, or the basewall 438 of the insert 402 contacts the annular ledge 420 of the body400. The configuration and assembly of the sealing element 174 isidentical to that of sealing element 172, except that the inner diameterd2 of both the body 400 and the insert 402 thereof is smaller than theinner diameter d1 of the body 400 and insert 402 of sealing element 172.In either case, a small gap may be present between both the annularsupport wall 412 at the end of the stub 401 of the body 400, and thebase wall 438 of the insert 402 and the annular ledge 420 of the body400. This allows the insert 400 to “float” on the body 400, and thusallows the sealing face 181 thereof to slightly change its orientationwith respect to the body 400 to help align the sealing face 181 inparallel with a corresponding sealing surface 106, 112 of a sealingplate 105, 111.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5 hereof, the first and second sealingplates 105, 111 providing the upper and lower sealing surfaces 106, 112are also provided as a recessed insert 190, each having continuationpassages extending therethrough to communicate with the inlet 104 andfirst and second outlet block passages 110, 116 of the valve block 100.In the embodiment, both of the recessed inserts 190 are also configuredas a single crystal or a carbide material, preferably the same singlecrystal or carbide material of the first and second seal elements 172,174. The single crystal material is preferably chosen from among asingle crystal ruby and a single crystal sapphire. In operation, thecarrier 150 is moveable in the direction of arrows A and S of FIG. 2, toselectively align the passage formed through the tube 184 and thecountersunk openings 180 a, b therein with the inlet passage 104 andeither one or the other of the first and second outlet block passages110, 116 to allow flow from the inlet 102 to one of the outlets 108,114, or to prevent flow from the inlet passage 104 to either one or theother of the first and second outlet block passages 110, 116 by aligningthe annular sealing surface 190 to simultaneously block the first andsecond outlet block passages 110, 116, which also prevents direct fluidcommunication as between first and second outlet block passages 110,116. These relative positions of the bidirectional seal assembly 170 areshown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

To secure the sealing plates 105,111 in the body of the inlet body 90and the outlet body 80, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the inletbody 90 and outlet body 80 include a generally right annular recess 440extending inwardly of the central portion of the end wall 446 thereoffacing the seal carrier 150 and thus the capping inserts 402 on the endsof the first and second seal elements 172, 174, each right annularrecess 440 having an outer circumferential wall 444 and a base wall 442,into which inlet block passage 104 or first and second outlet blockpassages 110, 116 extend. The sealing plate 105 includes a throughopening 460 in registration with inlet block passage 104, and thesealing plate 111 includes two through openings 462, 464, each inregistration with the first or second outlet block passages 110, 116,respectively. A sealing plate sleeve 450, here a generally right annularelement composed of PEEK, thirty percent (30%) carbon filled PEEK,Delrin® and Teflon® similarly to sleeve 430, is disposed between theouter circumference of the sealing plates 105, 111 and the correspondingouter circumferential wall 44 o of a recess 440, wherein the innercircumference and diameter thereof are less than or equal to the outerdiameter and circumference of the sealing plate 105, 111, and the outercircumference and diameter thereof are equal to, or greater than, theinner circumference and diameter of the outer circumferential wall 444of the recess 440. Similarly to the assembly of the inserts 402 on thebodies 400 of the first and second seal elements 172, 174, to assemblethe insert into its respective inlet body of outlet body 90, 80, thesealing plate sleeve 450 is pushed into the recess 440, and the sealingplate 105, 111 is pressed into the sealing plate sleeve 450. Again,compression of the sealing plate sleeve 450 is sufficient to maintainthe sealing plate sleeve 450, and the sealing plates 105, 111, in placein their respective bodies 90, 80, but also allow the sealing plates105, 111 move with respect to the inlet and outlet bodies 80, 90, andthereby achieve a parallel relationship of the sealing surfaces 106, 112thereof with the facing sealing surfaces of an adjacent insert 402.

In operation, the sealing elements 172, 174 of the bidirectional sealassembly 170 are positionable to selectively allow, or block, fluid flowfrom inlet passage 104 to one of the first and second outlet blockpassages 110, 116. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the bidirectional seal assembly170 is positioned such that countersunk opening in the first sealingelement 172 is aligned with the inlet block passage 104, and the secondseal face 183 overlies, and covers, both of first and second outletblock passages 110, 116. In FIG. 4, the carrier 150 (FIGS. 1 and 2) hasmoved the bidirectional seal assembly 170 from the position of FIG. 3,such that inlet passage 104 s communicated with outlet passage 116, andfirst outlet passage 110 is exposed to the interior volume 200 of thevalve, which may be configured with a vent passage to thereby vent thepressure in the first outlet passage 110. In FIG. 5, the carrier 150(FIGS. 1 and 2) has moved the bidirectional seal assembly 170 from theposition of FIG. 3, such that inlet passage 104 is communicated withfirst outlet passage 110, and outlet passage 116 is exposed to theinterior volume 200 of the valve, which may be configured with a ventpassage to thereby vent the pressure in the outlet passage 116.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the force needed to move the carrier withrespect to the seal plate surfaces 106, 112 as a function of thepressure at the inlet 102 for different sealing element 172, 174materials and different sealing plate 105, 111 materials. Using thevalve of FIGS. 1 and 2, a load cell was interposed between anelectromechanical actuator and the actuation rod 134, and no springreturn was present, and the force needed to move the carrier 150 fromthe position of FIGS. 1 and 2 to the right or to the left of FIGS. 1 and2 was measured at a series of discrete inlet pressures using a valvewith three different sealing element 172, 174 and sealing plate 105, 111material combinations: Carbide to carbide, carbide to ruby, and ruby tosapphire. In the valve, the first annular seal face 181 had a surfacearea of approximately 0.0091 square inches, and the annular seal face183 had a surface area of approximately 0.0117 square inches. As shownin FIG. 3, the force in pounds-force (lbf) increases as the fluidpressure, in psi on the inlet 104 increases. However, by using a singlecrystal material as the material of the sealing elements 172, 174 and/orthe sealing plates 105, 111 and thus the sealing surfaces 106, 112, asignificant reduction in the initial force, and thus the storedhydraulic energy required to initiate movement of the sealing elements172, 174 with respect to the sealing surfaces 106, 112, is achieved. Forexample, at an inlet pressure of 1000 psi, over 6 lbf are required tomove the sealing elements 172, 174 and sealing surfaces 106, 112 withrespect to each other when both are configured from tungsten carbide. Bychanging one of the sealing elements 172, 174 or sealing surfaces 106,112 to ruby, that force requirement is reduced to approximately 5 lbf,and when configuring one of the sealing elements 172, 174 and sealingsurfaces 106, 112 of ruby, and the other of the sealing elements 172,174 and sealing surfaces 106, 112 of sapphire, the force required tomove the sealing elements 172, 174 and sealing surfaces 106, 112 withrespect to one another is less than 3 lbf, which is less than one-halfthat of the carbide-carbide interface. The relative force required tomove a ruby to sapphire interface will be the same as a sapphire tosapphire interface.

At higher inlet 104 pressures the reduction in force required to movethe sealing elements 172, 174 and sealing surfaces 106, 112 with respectto each other is even more pronounced. At about 4500 psi inlet 104pressure, the tungsten carbide to tungsten carbide interface requiresover 15 lbf to begin moving, whereas the ruby to carbide interfacerequires under 12 psi to begin moving, and the ruby to sapphireinterface requires less than 8 lbf to begin moving. Thus, at the lowerpressure of about 1000 psi, a reduction in force of about 4 lbf, whichis ⅓ that required for the carbide to carbide interface is used, ispossible using a ruby to sapphire interface. At the higher pressure ofabout 4500 psi, a reduction in force of about 8 lbf, which is ½ thatrequired for the carbide to carbide interface is used, is possible usinga ruby to sapphire interface. It is believed that this is due to thelower electrical affinity of the surface of a single crystal material toan adjacent single crystal surface, as compared to that of a non-singlecrystal surface to a non-single crystal, or a single crystal, surface.

Referring to FIG. 9, an additional graph showing the relationshipbetween the force required to overcome a pressure and move the sealingcomponents with respect to each other, for both dynamic and static(starting from a fixed position) motion. Here, it is evident that theforce required to slide a carbide to carbide interface at a givenpressure pushing the sealing surfaces together, curves 910 and 912, isgreater than that required to move slide two sapphire sealing surfaceswith respect to each other, curves 914 and 916. Curve 16 shows therelationship between pressure and force for an already movingsapphire-sapphire sealing interface, curve 14 shows the relationshipbetween pressure and force for initiating movement of asapphire-sapphire sealing interface, curve 912 shows the relationshipbetween pressure and force for an already moving carbide to carbidesealing interface, and curve 910 shows the relationship between pressureand force for initiating movement of a carbide to carbide sealinginterface. For example, at a pressure of 600 psi pressing the sealingsurfaces together, approximately 1.5 lbf is required to maintain asapphire to sapphire sealing interface moving, and approximately 3 lbfis required to initiate movement of a sapphire to sapphire sealinginterface. In contrast, for a carbide to carbide sealing interface at apressure of 600 psi pressing the sealing surfaces together, maintainingmovement of the interface requires slightly more than 3 lbf, and toinitiate movement of the sealing interface, slightly more than 4 lbf.Additionally, at all pressures the force required to initiate movementor maintain movement of the sapphire to sapphire sealing interface isless than that to initiate or maintain movement of the carbide tocarbide sealing interface.

In addition to sapphire and ruby single crystal materials, the inventorhereof has discovered that a sliding interface comprising at least onezirconia surface results in reduced stiction as compared to acarbide-carbide sliding interface under the same operating conditions.For example, where one of the two surfaces having relative slidingmotion with respect to each other is configured of Zirconia and theother of tungsten carbide, under the same operating conditions, areduction of stiction, on the order of 20% as compared to a tungstencarbide-tungsten carbide sliding interface results. For example, theinventor hereof has found that the zirconium-yttria blend ofapproximately 3% Yttria, commonly referred to as tetragonal zirconiapolycrystalline material or Zirconia 3T-TZP, used as one surface of thesliding interface, and tungsten carbide as the other surface of thesliding interface, resulted in a reduction of stiction compared to thatof a tungsten-carbide-tungsten carbide sliding interface under the sameloading conditions. Likewise, the inventor hereof has found thataluminum stabilized zirconia, also known as AZP, used as one surface ofthe sliding interface, and tungsten carbide as the other surface of thesliding interface, resulted in a reduction of stiction compared to thatof a tungsten-carbide-tungsten carbide sliding interface under the sameloading conditions. As an alternate embodiment, the use of tungstencarbide against Zirconia, for instance Zirconia 3T-TZP or AZP in slidingcontact will also produce a low friction couple as a shear seal.Likewise, a zirconia-zirconia sliding interface will result in areduction of stiction on the order of 50%.

In addition to having reduced stiction as compared to a carbide-carbidesliding interface, a zirconia-carbide interface has improvedmanufacturability as compared to sapphire of ruby materials. Forexample, the capping inserts 402 can be manufactured from Zirconia3T-TZP or AZP and the recessed inserts forming the sealing plates 105,111 manufactured of tungsten carbide. Thus, at the interface of thesliding seal plate surfaces 106, 112 and annular seal faces 181, 183 ofFIG. 3, a reduction of stiction of approximately 20% can be achievedover a carbide-carbide interface, and the sealing elements 172, 174 andthe sealing plates 105, 111 are more easily, and less expensively,manufactured as compared to where they are manufactured of ruby orsapphire. Additionally, both the tungsten carbide and the Zirconia3T-TZP can be spray coated, such that the base material of the inserts402 of the sealing 172, 174 and the sealing plates 105, 111 aremanufactured from, for example stainless steel or a another highstrength metal, and tungsten carbide is spray coated on the sealingsurface side of one of the inserts 402 of the sealing elements 172, 174and the sealing plates 105, 111 and Zirconia 3T-TZP is spray coated onthe other of the inserts 402 of the sealing elements 172, 174 and thesealing plates 105, 111. Preferably, where the carbide surface isprovided by a monolithic, i.e., non-spray coated component, the sealplates 105, 111 are configured of the more brittle tungsten carbide.Further, the carbide, zirconia, or both materials can be provides asinserts brazed to an underlying material to form a lower stictionsliding interface. Additionally, as compared to ruby or sapphirematerials, Zirconia is more easily machined, and is also susceptible tobeing machined into more complex shapes and geometries. Furthermore,zirconia itself, as opposed to Zirconia 3T-TZP or AZP, may be used asthe sliding surface, either against another zirconia surface, or acarbide surface such as tungsten carbide.

Additionally, ruby-carbide and sapphire-carbide sliding interfaces arealso contemplated herein, wherein one of the capping inserts 402 of thesealing elements 172, 174 and the recessed inset forming the sealingplates 105, 111 is configured of a monolithic carbide such as tungstencarbide or configured from a base material such as stainless steel andthe sliding surfaces are provided by spray coating a carbide, such astungsten carbide thereon, and the other of the capping inserts 402 ofthe sealing elements 172, 174 and the recessed inserts of the sealingplates 105, 111 is configured of sapphire or ruby. For example, theinventor hereof has discovered that the sapphire-tungsten carbideinterface has a reduced stiction as compared to the tungstencarbide-tungsten carbide interface on the order of 20%, although not assignificant as opposed to the 50% possible with Sapphire againstSapphire or Zirconia against Tungsten Carbide. In addition, a slidinginterface of a zirconia material and one of sapphire or ruby, a slidinginterface where one surface is sapphire and the other is ruby, arespecifically contemplated here.

Other devices using hydraulically operated pistons, such as a pressureregulator as shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/837,192, filedAug. 27, 2015 and incorporated herein by reference can also benefit fromthe use of carbide, sapphire and ruby inserts in or on componentsthereof.

As used herein, the use of zirconia, ruby and/or sapphire as therelative sliding surfaces, or combined with a carbide such as tungstencarbide as the other relatively sliding surface, as the components ofthe sliding interfaces results in a smaller dead zone, lower life as aresult of lower wear and high corrosion resistance, and the ability toreduce the size of the stored energy components, such as springs, usedto restore the hydraulic circuit component to its rest state.

As contemplated herein, ruby or sapphire, wherein ruby is a doped formof sapphire, are available in sheet or rod form from various suppliersuch as Saint Gobain of Milford N.H. The sapphire and ruby used hereinwere ½ light band ruby and 4RA and 2 light band sapphire. The parts,such as the sealing inserts and seal plate surfaces inserts weremachined from these materials using diamond cutters, and then lapped toimprove surface finish. Where the sliding interface surface is an insertattached to another component, such as a sealing plate assembly, onesurface of the insert is metallized, and the metallized surface is thenbrazed or otherwise connected to an underlying metal component, such asa stainless steel component.

FIGS. 13 to 15 show another embodiment of a valve using a single crystalor carbide insert affixed thereto using a sleeve. Here, a pressureregulating valve 500 includes a valve body 502, a bias member 504, and abias member cover 506. In operation, pressure at valve inlet 508 isdistributed to the opposed sides of a shear seal assembly 510, andpressure at the valve outlet 512 is also present in interior volume 522of the valve 500 and bears against a piston 514 which is biased towardthe right side of the Figure by the spring 514. If an under-pressurecondition occurs at the outlet 512 and thus the pressure in interiorvolume 522 falls below a threshold pressure, the shear seal assembly510, held in a bore of cross stem 516 connected to spring rod 524through coupling 526 is moved to the right as shown in FIG. 14, by theforce of the spring overcoming the pressure force of the outlet pressureon the piston 514, causing an opening 520 in a first inlet modulecapping insert 530 in fluid communication with inlet 508 to be exposedinto the interior volume 522 of the valve 500, and thus allowing ahigher pressure maintained at the inlet 508 to pass through the outlets512. As the pressure downstream of the outlets 512 increases due to thefluid at the supply pressure being applied thereto, the pressure in theinterior volume 522, to which the piston 514 is exposed, increases, andwhen sufficient pressure is achieved, it pushes the piston 514 to theleft in FIG. 14 and thereby pull the cross stem 516 connected thereto tolikewise be pulled to the left, causing the shear seal assembly to coverthe opening 520.

As shown in greater detail in FIG. 14, wherein the valve body 502 isshown enlarged, shear seal assembly 510 includes opposed first andsecond inlet modules 540, 542, each configured with a single crystal orcarbide first or second inlet module capping insert 530 press fit overthe facing portions thereof, here a first inlet module capping insert544 and a second inlet module capping insert 546. The connection of thefirst inlet module capping insert 544 to the first inlet module 540 isshown in FIG. 15, and the connection of the second inlet module cappinginsert 546 to second inlet module 542 is identical. As with the valve ofFIGS. 1 to 5, here a compressible, ring shaped sleeve (549 a, b) isdisposed between the first and second inlet module capping inserts 544,546 and a securing surface of a corresponding one of the first andsecond inlet modules 540, 542, such that a generally flat seal platesurface 548 of one of the first and second inlet module capping inserts544, 546 is positioned to face the generally flat seal plate surface 548of the other one of the first and second inlet module capping inserts544, 546, with the sealing elements 172, 174 disposed therebetween. Incontrast to the connection between the seal plate and the adjacent valvecomponent by which it is supported where the sleeve is held in a recessof the valve component, here the first and second ring shaped sleeves549 a, b are secured over a respective one of first and second stub boss552, 554 extending from the first and the second inlet modules 542, 544.As best shown in FIG. 15, first inlet module capping insert 544 includesa generally cylindrical in shape outer surface 556, an inlet module sideannular surface 558 having a first mounting aperture 560 extendingtherefrom and terminating therein at a location spaced from seal platesurface 548. Here, aperture is a generally right cylindrical openinginto the module side annular surface and off set from the centerthereof, in the direction of the bias member 504 of the valve 500. Firstring shaped sleeve 549 a is a ring shaped member which is locatedbetween the cylindrical wall of the aperture 560 and the outercylindrical wall 564 of the first stub boss 552. First inlet moduleincludes flow passage 566 extending therein to the end wall 570 of thefirst stub boss 522, and first insert 544 includes the opening 520configured as an offset flow passage therethrough fluidly connected tothe flow passage 566 of the first stub boss 522. To properly align theoffset flow passage 560 with the flow passage 566 of the first stub boss522, a module side annular surface 558 of first insert 544 includes analignment pin opening 572 extending thereinto, insert facing surface 578of the first inlet module 540 includes a mating pin opening 574, and analignment pin 578 extends inwardly of both pin openings 572, 574. Here,alignment pin is sized slightly smaller than the surrounding volumeprovided by pin openings 572, 574 to prevent stress being developed inthe first insert 544. Along the outer cylindrical wall 580 of the firstinlet module 540, a seal groove 582 is provided, within which a sealsuch and an O-ring 584, and a backup ring 586 are provided.

The structure of the second inlet module 542 and the connection thereofwith the second insert 546 is generally the same as that of the firstinlet module and its connection to with the first insert 546. The maindifference therebetween is the location of the opening 590 through thesecond inlet module capping insert 546 is generally centered to the flowpassage 566 in the second inlet module 542.

To secure first and second inlet modules within the body 502 of thevalve 500, an inlet adaptor 592 having inlet 508 therein is secured intoan opening 594 in body 502, and a spacer 596 is located between theinner end 596 of the inlet adaptor 592 and the end of the first inletmodule distal from the insert receiving end thereof. A blind adaptor 598is secured inwardly of a blind adaptor opening 600 and a spacer 596 islikewise located between the inner end 596 of the blind adaptor 598 andthe end of the second inlet module distal from the insert receiving endthereof.

In this embodiment, the shear seal assembly includes first and secondself-biasing sealing elements 610, 620, each including a sealing face612, 622 facing a respective one of the sealing surfaces of the sealingplate inserts 542, 544. In contrast to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1to 4, here the first and second self-biasing sealing elements 610, 620do not include a single crystal of carbide insert fit thereon, and eachmay comprise, for example, stainless steel or other material, and onlythe second sealing surface 622 is an annular surface, and the firstsealing surface is circular in plain view. Also, there is no flowpassage extending through the sealing elements, and instead, here thefirst sealing element 610 includes a pin 614 extending therefrom, andinto a pin opening 624 in the second sealing element 620. An annularseal volume 616 is formed between the first and second self-biasingsealing elements 610, 620, within which a key seal is located.Alternatively, the sealing surfaces of the self-biasing sealing elements610, 620 may be formed as inserts or caps on the opposed sealing facesof the first and second self-biasing sealing elements 610, 620, andconnected thereto by press fitting thereon or thereover using thecompressible sleeve as in the prior embodiment hereof.

When pressure is applied to the inlet 508, a flow passage through thevalve body (not shown) supplies this pressure to, and through, theopening 590, such that the same pressure is applied to against thesealing faces 612, 614 on opposed sides of the first and secondself-biasing sealing elements 610, 620, as well as the end of the pin614 facing the opening 590. As a result, this pressure maintains thesealing surfaces of the first and second self-biasing sealing elements610, 620 biased against their respective first and second sealingplates.

Referring now to FIG. 16, an additional embodiment, here solenoidoperated valve 700 is shown. Solenoid actuated valve uses modularinserts to supply the flow passages selectively blocked by the sealingelements thereof, as in the valve of FIGS. 14 to 16. In contrast to thevalve of FIGS. 14 to 16, solenoid actuated valve 700 is not operatedbased on pressures within the valve, but by a solenoid 702 positionableat two locations, and connected to the seal carrier 703 of the valve 700by a connecting rod 704, the flow passages 706, 708 in the sealingplates 710, 712 are centered to the diameter thereof, as are the stembosses 714, 716 of the inlet modules, and the sealing elements 740, 742in the seal carrier 703 are connected by a hollow tube 744, allowingfluid communication therethrough. As with the valve of FIGS. 14 to 16, asleeve 718 is provided between the stem bosses 714, 716 and a respectivesingle crystal or carbide based sealing plate insert 720, 722. A spring732, held in and extendable from spring pocket 730 in the body of thevalve is located on the side of the seal carrier 703 opposed to theconnection of the rod 704 thereto. In FIG. 16, the valve is shownwhereby flow and fluid pressure communication between flow ports 732,734 is blocked, and when solenoid 703 is actuated to pull the sealcarrier toward the wall of the valve on which the solenoid 702 ismounted, flow and fluid communication is enabled by between the flowports 732, 734 through the sealing elements 740, 742 and the hollow tube744 in the carrier 703.

Referring now to FIGS. 17 to 19, an alternative construct of a sealingplate carrier is shown. Here, sealing plate carrier 800 includes agenerally rectangular body 802, with a nipple 804 extending therefrom.Rectangular body 802 includes a plurality of mounting apertures 803extending therethrough, to receive a fastener to secure the sealingplate carrier 800 to the body of a valve. Here, the sealing platecarrier 800 includes two openings 806, 808 (FIG. 18) extending thereinand through the nipple 802. The distal end 810 of the nipple 802includes an annular recess 812 (FIG. 19) extending thereinto, which isradially bounded by an outer annular wall 814, an inner annular wall816, and an annular base wall extending therebetween. An annular insert818 composed of a single crystal or carbide material is received in theannular recess 812, with the annular base 822 thereof in contact withthe annular base wall 824 of the recess 812. As with the otherembodiments described herein, a compressible sleeve 826 of a materialsuch as Delrin, PEEK, 30% carbon filled PEEK or Teflon® is locatedbetween the inner annular wall 816 and the inner wall 828 of the insert818. The outer wall 830 of the insert 818 includes a seal ring groove832 within which a sealing ring 834, such as an O-ring, and a backupring 836 are provided to seal against the outer wall 814 of the annularrecess 812. In use in a valve, the distal and face 840 faces one of thesealing elements of a shear seal assembly.

Annular insert 818 includes a central aperture 842 surrounding the innerwall 816 of the annular recess 812, which contacts the outer surface ofthe sleeve 826, and a second opening 838 aligned with flow passage 808.Flow passage 806 is surrounded by the inner wall 816 of the annularrecess 812.

Referring to FIG. 20, an alternate construct of the annular recess 812includes an annular slot 858 (recess) extending inwardly of the nipple814 from the base wall 860 of the recess, directly adjacent to the innerwall 814. The width of the slot 858 in the direction between the innerand outer annular walls 814, 816 is slightly greater than the width ofthe compressible sleeve 826 in the direction between the inner and outerannular walls 814, 816. Thus, if during pressing of the insert 818 intothe recess 812 the sleeve 826 moves inwardly of the recess, the annularslot 858 allows a portion of the body of the sleeve to move thereinto,and thereby prevent the portion of the sleeve 826 adjacent to the basewall 860 from being deformed in the direction of the outer wall 816 ofthe recess, and become pinched between the base of the insert 818 andthe base wall 860 of the recess.

Referring to FIGS. 21 to 23, different configurations of a compressiblesleeve are shown. In FIG. 21, sleeve 900 has a generally right, annular,construct where the inner and outer side walls 902, 904 intersect withor meet the opposed annular end walls 906, 908 at a right angle. In FIG.22, the inner side wall 902 intersects with or meets the opposed annularend walls 906, 908 at a right angle, but the inner and outer side walls902, 906 are not parallel to one another, such that the end wall 908disposed against the base of a recess when in use is wider than theother end wall 906. The angles of the inner and outer walls 902, 904with respect to the end walls 906, 908 can be reversed, such that theinner wall 902 tapers inwardly of, or outwardly of, the opening in thesleeve 900 in the depth direction of the sleeve, assuming end wall 908is abutting or facing the valve component on or in which the sleeve 900is used. In FIG. 23, the inner side wall 902 intersects with or meetsthe opposed annular end walls 906, 908 at a right angle, the outer sidewall meets the end wall 906 at a right angle, and a footing is providedintegrally in the sleeve which provides a wider portion of the sleeve900 adjacent to the end wall 908 disposed against the base of a recesswhen in use. As with the sleeve 900 of FIG. 22, the location on thefooting 910 can be on either end of the outer wall, or on the innerwall, at either end thereof. When the footing 910 is located on theinner wall 902 adjacent to the end wall 908 disposed against the base ofa recess when in use, the footing 901 provides a standoff of a knownheight further enabling relative motion between an insert and theunderlying component on or in which the insert is positioned. Note, thesleeves as shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 are intended to be used where theinner wall of an annular single crystal or carbide insert is locatedover the outer wall 904 of the sleeve. Where the outer wall of theinsert is received against the inner wall of the sleeve, such as show inFIGS. 1 to 4, the inner wall 902 of the sleeve would be further extendaway from the outer wall 904 adjacent to the end wall 908 disposedagainst the base of a recess when in use than it does end wall 906.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention,other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised withoutdeparting from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof isdetermined by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A valve comprising: a first seal surface, a body,at least one of the body and the first seal surface moveable withrespect to the other of the body and the first seal surface, the bodyincluding a recess therein, the recess having a circumferentialoutwardly facing wall surface, and an insert located over the recess,the insert including an inner circumferential surface facing theoutwardly facing wall surface of the body, and a second seal surface, acompliant member, the compliant member interposed between the innercircumferential surface and the outwardly facing wall surface of thebody, the second seal surface facing, and moveable with respect to, thefirst seal surface, and at least one of the first seal surface and thesecond seal surface having an opening extending thereinto.
 2. The valveof claim 1, wherein the recess of the body further includes an annularwall.
 3. The valve of claim 2, wherein the annular wall of the recess ofthe body intersects the outwardly facing wall surface of the recess ofthe body.
 4. The valve of claim 1, wherein at least one of the firstseal surface and the second seal surface comprise a single crystalmaterial.
 5. The valve of claim 1, wherein at least one of the firstseal surface and the second seal surface comprise sapphire or ruby. 6.The valve of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first seal surface andthe second seal surface comprise sapphire or ruby, and the other of thefirst seal surface and the second seal surface does not comprise asingle crystal material.
 7. The valve of claim 1, further comprising abiasing element positioned and arranged to bias the first seal surfaceand the second seal surface toward one another.
 8. The valve of claim 1,further comprising an actuation member moveable in a path, wherein thebody is coupled to the actuation member to move therewith.
 9. The valveof claim 8, wherein the actuation member includes an opening therein,and the body is received within the opening; and a biasing member islocated within the opening and contacts the body at a location thereofwithin the opening.
 10. A valve comprising: a first body having a bodypassage therein; a first seal surface, a second body, at least one ofthe second body and the first seal surface moveable with respect to theother of the second body and the first seal surface, the second bodyincluding a recess therein, the recess having a circumferentialoutwardly facing wall surface, and an insert located over the recess,the insert including an inner circumferential surface facing theoutwardly facing wall surface of the second body, and a second sealsurface, a first compliant member, the first compliant member interposedbetween the inner circumferential surface and the outwardly facing wallsurface of the second body, the second seal surface facing, and moveablewith respect to, the first seal surface, and at least one of the firstseal surface and the second seal surface having an opening extendingthereinto.
 11. The valve of claim 10, wherein the recess of the secondbody further includes an annular wall.
 12. The valve of claim 11,wherein the annular wall of the recess of the second body intersects theoutwardly facing wall surface of the recess of the second body.
 13. Thevalve of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first seal surface andthe second seal surface comprise a single crystal material.
 14. Thevalve of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first seal surface andthe second seal surface comprise sapphire or ruby.
 15. The valve ofclaim 10, wherein at least one of the first seal surface and the secondseal surface comprise sapphire or ruby, and the other of the first sealsurface and the second seal surface does not comprise a single crystalmaterial.
 16. The valve of claim 16, further comprising an actuationmember moveable in a path within the body passage of the first body,wherein the second body is coupled to the actuation member to movetherewith.
 17. The valve of claim 16, wherein the actuation memberincludes an opening therein, and the second body is received within theopening; and a biasing member is located within the opening and contactsthe body at a location thereof within the opening, the biasing memberpushing the second seal surface toward the first seal surface.
 18. Thevalve of claim 17, wherein the first body includes a seal carrierretainer opening, and the valve further comprises a seal carrier, a sealcarrier insert, and a second compliant member; the seal carriercomprising a seal carrier recess having an inwardly facing seal carrierrecess wall; the seal carrier insert comprising an seal carrier outercircumferential surface and the first seal surface; and the secondcompliant member interposed between the inwardly facing seal carrierrecess wall and the seal carrier outer circumferential surface.
 19. Thevalve of claim 18, wherein the seal carrier is disposed in the sealcarrier retainer opening, and the first seal surface extends outwardlyfrom the body and into body passage of the first body.